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Community Helps Homeless Family in LOVE Park

A small child was found alone in LOVE Park. His parents say they are homeless and had to spend the night in the park. NBC10’s Aundrea Cline-Thomas has more on the community outreach to help the family. (Published Monday, Oct. 19, 2015)

Shortly after Jeremiah was found, his parents, 54-year-old Michael Jones and his 27-year-old fiancée, called police to report that he was missing, investigators said. The parents said they had been kicked out of a home where they were staying Friday and spent the night sleeping in a cardboard box near LOVE Park's visitor's center.

"That night we couldn't find nobody to take the kids so I had to improvise," Jones said.

On Sunday, CHOSEN 300 an inter-denominational ministry which has distributed more than 150,000 meals a year to the homeless in Center City, West Philadelphia and Pottstown, announced their plan to help the boy and his family.

"CHOSEN 300 has launched a campaign to raise $12,000 IN 12 DAYS to secure housing for this family for 1-year. In addition, our staff will be working with the family to provide case management, money management and social services to move them toward self-sufficiency," a spokesperson wrote in a press release. "We know this family as they have come to our mission often to receive meals. We have witnessed their love and care for their two children, but have fallen on hard times."

While the ministry gave themselves a timeline of 12 days, by Monday afternoon they had already raised the $12,000 needed to provide housing.

"It's like freaking me out that all the love is being pushed out there," said Jones, who has been looking for work to support his family for nearly two years. "Just in the last two days I got 55 job offers."